tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27150281883284762142024-02-21T20:53:09.208-08:00CandouristInside views on Politics and JournalismColorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-87252639616669302772021-06-09T21:58:00.005-07:002021-06-18T18:16:57.742-07:00Yesterday’s Politicians Today<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjReYw8D08qbNQlI-LokCGKTDpNPnlYer1KEFBrrFfkon4KIqihvFjIx1oXDL5SohVkI_XnK66sURqNRaWgw0vuGr2uek6d2l-9TH-qIJTCtWGdUdcSfMr53_1jIBVM2Kx6FPSoGsoH47EU/s1280/Yesterday%25E2%2580%2599s+Politicians+Today.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="1280" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjReYw8D08qbNQlI-LokCGKTDpNPnlYer1KEFBrrFfkon4KIqihvFjIx1oXDL5SohVkI_XnK66sURqNRaWgw0vuGr2uek6d2l-9TH-qIJTCtWGdUdcSfMr53_1jIBVM2Kx6FPSoGsoH47EU/w640-h342/Yesterday%25E2%2580%2599s+Politicians+Today.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;">Image by </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/openclipart-vectors-30363/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=161689" style="color: #191b26; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none; white-space: nowrap;">OpenClipart-Vectors</a><span face=""Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;"> from </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=161689" style="color: #191b26; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none; white-space: nowrap;">Pixaba</a><span face=""Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;">y</span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: medium;">If your
view of politicians is seen through the lens of Question Time, you might think
that most are rude, uncaring, self-centred individuals.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: medium;">Behind
the scenes, things are different. Politicians are different from what they show
in that sad theatre that has become Question Time. Politicians from all sides
have to get on. And to a large extent they do, regardless of the show they put
on for the cameras. That said, the level of dislike and mistrust between
politicians today is the worst it has ever been. We’ve even seen this from
members of the same party, and not just opposition parties.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: medium;">Today’s
politician could learn a lot from the much humbler and placid politician of the
past. That’s not to say that back then they were all angels, but the tone,
mannerisms, and general deportment of most current politicians make criminals
look nice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: medium;">In 1966,
after addressing an anti-conscription rally at Mosman Town Hall, Labor
politician Arthur Calwell was shot by a disturbed man. Calwell lived, but it
was his actions and words afterwards that highlight the difference between yesterday’s
politicians and today's.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: medium;">The
shooter, Peter Kocan, not long after realising what he had done wrote to
Calwell. He apologised for his delude actions. Calwell’s reply is something
that I could not see most politicians writing today. Calwell urged Kocan to
‘forget the incident’ and he wished him well. Calwell knew of Kocan’s mental
imbalance as Kocan’s mother contacting Calwell.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-GB">Not that
it pays to shoot people, but apparently, Kocan was such a good writer and a poet, he
went on to receive an </span><span lang="EN-GB">NSW Premier's
Literary Award in 1983, </span><span lang="EN-GB">and a $50,000 Australia Council Writers award.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: medium;">The
Australian public might like and approve of politicians more if they showed greater
respect for one another. Respect for our political system and getting rid of
their ideologies will also help. People turn away from political debate today.
Even around election time when politics matters most, the current stench of
politics turns people off. This can be seen in things like the donkey vote, writing
Mickey Mouse on a ballot paper or even refusing to vote and copping a fine, these
all show how little respect people have for today's politician.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: medium;">The
bitterness and resentment between politicians and political systems have always
been with us. It’s the ugliness, the personal attacks, the venom in
conversations today that makes people steer clear of politics. Newspapers and
media don’t help when they ignite the flames of hatred and mistrust. This only
adds to the lack of polite political discourse.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: medium;">Eloquence
and fluency are things we don’t hear much from today’s politician. Integrity
is, and perhaps never was a key ingredient of a politician’s make-up. Tweeting
on your mobile phone or sitting with you back to a speaker is more the form of
politicians now. None of these things make a person want to vote for a type
that does this. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: medium;">Whatever
qualifications politicians have today, showing humility and looking your
counterpart in the eye would improve their standing. Having respect for people,
the system, and the political office, all normal simple human things would generate
greater trust and respect than any policy or grandstanding can ever create.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-26289749941528408022021-06-08T15:26:00.001-07:002021-06-08T16:34:12.150-07:00Democracy is Dead<p style="text-align: center;"> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nEyTyU68T2wRb5Ja8EMRnOHZUSXms2J5YHJibe2kjhRw7xnXIbQhW-y9Oc6IWFyv2mXMvbObqYPPeJVdmfSfkBdFCabNKYEj_w1BJ1cYLiX772BidXvemrrU_bOndp3_4Lrc5jknjvOT/s1920/dead-1205269_1920.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1118" data-original-width="1920" height="372" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4nEyTyU68T2wRb5Ja8EMRnOHZUSXms2J5YHJibe2kjhRw7xnXIbQhW-y9Oc6IWFyv2mXMvbObqYPPeJVdmfSfkBdFCabNKYEj_w1BJ1cYLiX772BidXvemrrU_bOndp3_4Lrc5jknjvOT/w640-h372/dead-1205269_1920.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><span face=""Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;">Image by </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/aitoff-388338/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1205269" style="color: #191b26; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none; white-space: nowrap;">Andrew Martin</a><span face=""Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;"> from </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=1205269" style="color: #191b26; cursor: pointer; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none; white-space: nowrap;">Pixaba</a><span face=""Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;">y</span><br /><br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-size: medium;">To say that Australia is a democracy is not
a lie, it’s not the truth either.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin: 0px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Has democracy failed us? No, it can’t have.
We built our democracy; it did not build us. If we think that our democracy has
failed, we could look to the media for blame. We could look to ourselves with our
fascination for loud political leaders. Nowhere more have we seen this
fascination come to an ugly head but in the rise of populism and through its
banner carriers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Populists claim to speak for ordinary
people. But we’ve seen the results of these types and the damage they have done
to the people they say they represent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">However, the media, with its opinion
columns, its hard-right/hard-left commentators, its ideologically driven
viewpoints, its financial backing and its column inch support for political
parties, the media would seem the likely culprits. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">President John Kennedy (no relation) once
said that “The press is a valuable arm of the presidency”. In Henry Porter’s
1984 book, <i>Lies, Damned Lies and Some Exclusives</i>, he said, “In pursuit
of an easy life journalists have progressively relegated themselves to the
status of mere instruments of government propaganda”. That is not true of all
journalists, but it is true of the popular media. The kind that most people
read, watch and listen to. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Do you think that today’s press is an
information provider or an opinion creator? Why are there conservative
broadcasters, green presses, right and left-wing publications? Are they all
just in it for the money? Are there political journalists that you read and
others never? Why is there a twenty-four-seven news cycle?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">In my old university library, there is a
whole bookshelf dedicated to one man, Rupert Murdoch. Not one of these books
praises Murdoch for doing good. Not one offers a view that his publications are
fair and balanced. He alone has raised up and brought down more governments
than any other individual in history. Ownership matters.</span><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Competition matters too. This Guardian
article tells you the sorry one-sided story of media ownership in Australia. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2020/nov/13/australia-newspaper-ownership-is-among-the-most-concentrated-in-the-world">Australia's
newspaper ownership is among the most concentrated in the world.</a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">If political stories are told from one
angle, with an agenda or ideology behind them, and most people consume and
believe these articles, democracy dies. But who is to blame? The compliant
media or the government?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">If governments redact and hide their
actions and their motivations, democracy dies. Your right to know is not
greater than the governments' laws that say they have a right to conceal; and
there’s nothing you can do about it. But most people are not interested in
doing anything about press freedom. Because you can’t read about the things
that are hidden, so you are not aware of them. Just as a large part of the press does
not report on government actions. They hide their deals from scrutiny; so, you
lose, and democracy dies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Governments can bully and intimidate
anyone. Any journalist and any publication that tries to expose their
corruption will find themselves in a secret trial. Look at the Bernard Collaery
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-bernard-collaerys-case-is-one-of-the-gravest-threats-to-freedom-of-expression-122463">case</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">When governments stoke the fires of
division, democracy dies. When governments spin every story, democracy dies.
When governments turn their back on people, democracy dies. When we have a Labor opposition that does not react, condemn or stand up against the removal of rights and constant lies, democracy dies.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">We have let all these things happen to our
democracy. How can you not say that democracy is dead?<o:p></o:p></span></p></span></div></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-6130041374618850282021-06-06T16:08:00.004-07:002021-06-09T22:01:43.340-07:00An imagined 2021 victory speech<p style="text-align: center;"> <br /></p><div align="center">
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNnxWrJPgMUi9clDyBvdEcbN6gdjoSdJ9IqOQEB4f_0vr-cVJfptK12Nm4n08sV1R3hMFYILkpJLhwTg6NiuJDW5x52bMJvMeY2WtNn1dMuo1Ck_Zur2lSR4dUTB1zCCz0qxpWbBhnAFg/s1280/australia-28586_1280.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1280" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNnxWrJPgMUi9clDyBvdEcbN6gdjoSdJ9IqOQEB4f_0vr-cVJfptK12Nm4n08sV1R3hMFYILkpJLhwTg6NiuJDW5x52bMJvMeY2WtNn1dMuo1Ck_Zur2lSR4dUTB1zCCz0qxpWbBhnAFg/w320-h190/australia-28586_1280.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjng4sBDjndFDOdmis1IUePH0PewDH3_euh06XFRsYWszeKhBbS4rvgrks7NtZNFbASIknLDQ5UFStgd08EBNw8CCGjZNipReXp13Bd3Y7wglODCv8ZPB5wiu0DmViQvWvmfDZxvRflpEhs/s1280/aboriginal-australian-28581_1280.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="1280" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjng4sBDjndFDOdmis1IUePH0PewDH3_euh06XFRsYWszeKhBbS4rvgrks7NtZNFbASIknLDQ5UFStgd08EBNw8CCGjZNipReXp13Bd3Y7wglODCv8ZPB5wiu0DmViQvWvmfDZxvRflpEhs/w320-h190/aboriginal-australian-28581_1280.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
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</div><div><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I don’t believe in miracles. I believe things become better by
us helping one another. And that’s what this government is going to do. We are
going to help to make things better for everyone. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">It has been a long journey for our party, and for the
Australian people, but now that we are here, we promise not to let you down. I’ll
say it again, we promise, I promise, we promise. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I want to thank the previous prime minister and his
government for all the work they have done. He and his government have done a
lot of good over his tenure, so I thank him and his party. And to all our
friends and allies across the world, you will be able to expect our continued
support, and our efforts to carry on meeting our shared values and goals. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now that you’ve instilled your trust in us, we will work to create
jobs and job security. We will improve housing affordability. We will get rid
of those divisive, ideological-driven increases in humanities degrees. We will
enshrine a voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in the Australian
constitution. And we will be happy and glad to place alongside the Australian
flag, the Aboriginal flag in and on our Parliament House. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">We will make the hard choices on the economy and the
environment. That doesn’t mean that we’re going to throw people on the scrap
heap because they work in mining. We will work to build an energy
infrastructure that doesn’t add to the problems of the world while keeping
people working. Too many jobs have been lost and not created because we haven’t
invested in new and cleaner technologies. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">With this election victory, we begin to turn Australia into
a fairer and more equal country, for everyone. We will once again be the
country of the fair go. This place we call home will be a country for the young
and the old. It will be for black and white and for people from every nation on
earth. This will also be a country that is equal and respectful to women. We
will not stop until we achieve this. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">We will change how young Australians see their future. We
want to see the next generation of Australians not having to lower their sight
but look forward to being able to get the education they want and able to
afford a home. Younger people should have the same rights as everyone, and the
same voting rights. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">We’re going to make Australia a maker of things again. We’ve
done it before, we can do it again. But this time, this time, we will make things
that enhance our economy and our future while not depleting the environment.
And every company that does business in our land will pay their fair share of
tax. That I promise you. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">My task, our task, is just beginning. And together, we will create
an equal nation. A fair nation. A nation that will help and support your dreams
and aspirations. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">And for those who didn’t vote for us, I will offer you
comfort, not condolence. I’ll work to make things fair and equal for you, and
for everyone. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Before I go, I want to thank all the members of my party and
to everyone who has done so much to support it. I want to thank our national
campaign team, the deputy prime minister, and the rest of the team, thank you,
and especially to my loving and supportive family. Thank you one and all.</span></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-34280371501502205462020-09-19T16:52:00.001-07:002020-09-19T17:53:14.741-07:00I came, I saw, I promised<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b><o:p> </o:p></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCr-lYVcgX5bvZGfqKKxNfXjbY405JpIbVqCGOGBoQDhArUIb6QaBIvCVjYESolPUmH-iyjh17u5CrjKGm4xEjNgbSS3xtzQrZj3unOuRZ2X-Flf89EavyyvUO0C9AQTrcWnwyzdMfWJX/s1460/ACT_Legislative_Assembly.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1460" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCr-lYVcgX5bvZGfqKKxNfXjbY405JpIbVqCGOGBoQDhArUIb6QaBIvCVjYESolPUmH-iyjh17u5CrjKGm4xEjNgbSS3xtzQrZj3unOuRZ2X-Flf89EavyyvUO0C9AQTrcWnwyzdMfWJX/w528-h362/ACT_Legislative_Assembly.jpg" width="528" /></a></b></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly and the statue Ethos (Tom Bass, 1961) Photo taken by Adz, 11 August 2005</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If elections bore you, you can change that. An election is
one of the few times we get to interact with our democracy and are allowed to
have a say in it. Elections should encourage us, but they don’t. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Why? Because we get the same thing every time from the major
parties. Promises, promises, promises that mean nothing; unless you are
gullible enough to fall for them.<b><o:p> </o:p></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The title of this article does not carry the same weight as Veni,
Vidi, Vici. This is the Latin phrase attributed to Julius Caesar that boastfully
states, I Came, I Saw, I Conquered. Imagine
that today, a politician saying what they meant and did. With most politics
today, there’s no weight to it, just promises. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, what’s a voter to do? If you are unhappy with politics
as usual, and you don’t like any of the major parties, you can either start a
party of your own or look to a minor party. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the coming A.C.T. election, many minor parties are
running. The minor parties know they are going to struggle to get your vote
because it’s hard for them to get noticed. They don’t have the budgets of the
major two parties. But, the minor parties can make a major difference in how
this territory is run. The minor parties can hold the government accountable,
and they can better represent Canberrans and their concerns. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">As a member of the <a href="https://canberra.progressives.org.au/">Canberra Progressives</a>, I’ve
seen firsthand how this party operates. They don’t have social or political
ideologies as Liberal and Labour do; they have values. Their principles are ethics
over influence, evidence over opinion, and collaboration over collusion. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you are sick and tired of complaining at the news every time
you hear a new government decision that you don’t agree with or see some ex-party
member getting a cushy “job for the boys”, then in the coming election you have
a chance to do something about that. You can change these things, but you have
to vote for a minor party. Hoping that a major party is going to change their ways
and do what you think is right is not going to happen. Major parties are for
the party and not for the people. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">A minor party could hold the balance of power in the A.C.T.
assembly. For members who sit on the crossbench, a deciding vote can come down
to them. They can put forward policies. They can give you a voice inside the government
and not just at election time. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Canberra Progressives have 7 candidates in 3
electorates: Kurrajong, Murrumbidgee and Yerrabi. If you put them first on the
ballot paper this election, you will see the difference that a minor party can
make for you. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, instead of being bored by elections, get involved, get
interested because it’s your future that is going to be decided by elections. It’s
your money governments will be spending. Governments get to have a large say
over your life and they can make it better or worse. What do you want?</span><o:p></o:p></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-2425223372070018462020-09-02T18:06:00.000-07:002020-09-02T18:06:53.871-07:00The ABC and Me and You<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabM8bxKturDoxupZU7FnLiGz_ZqYMF_aZLhqAzAXJJgnv3JmBPAcmTqiOqRCEHwoCJaNQmQopzUruwEkPD3PFZhQ64BJa9Ms0jHAmglVa7ddfepKpEy8svIMZErM-VHdPKqBq1e6D2ef1/s1280/Australian_Broadcasting_Corporation_logo_%25281974-%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgabM8bxKturDoxupZU7FnLiGz_ZqYMF_aZLhqAzAXJJgnv3JmBPAcmTqiOqRCEHwoCJaNQmQopzUruwEkPD3PFZhQ64BJa9Ms0jHAmglVa7ddfepKpEy8svIMZErM-VHdPKqBq1e6D2ef1/s640/Australian_Broadcasting_Corporation_logo_%25281974-%2529.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has been with
me my whole life. I’ve been listening to ABC radio since I was a baby. My
parents always had ABC radio on; classical music and local ABC radio were on
the whole day in our house. At night we sat down to watch ABC news and programs
on television. The ABC filled our house with the arts, education, news, and
entertainment; it still fills my life.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">For me, and many other Australians and people in our
neighbouring region, the ABC is vital. Because it provides services,
information, education, and entertainment that are not accessible
from anywhere else in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’ve been lucky enough over the years to have worked with a
few people from the ABC. My first collaboration with the ABC was in 2003. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/poetica/past-programs/">PoeticA</a>,
was a National Radio program that ran from 1997 to 2015. It provided a weekly
resource of poetry readings and happenings from around Australia and the world.
PoeticA was like a religion to most Australian poets and poetry lovers. The poet
and presenter Mike Ladd and producer Krystyna Kubiak were the heart of PoeticA.
They were both wonderful and helpful people to work with.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The program, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/poetica/ekphrasis/3522828">Ekphrasis</a>,
that I organised with PoeticA, aired on Saturday 22 February 2003 at 3:00 PM. You
can listen to that program <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSar7RtG6-4&t=7s">here</a>, of course,
copyright restrictions apply to all content.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The second time the ABC and I developed a program was again,
for PoeticA. This time the program was about all things poetically <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/poetica/astronomical/3374208">Astronomical</a>. Here’s the ABC blurb, “A feature on the
poetry of the cosmos including classical works as well as poems by contemporary
Australian writers. Based on an idea by Robert Kennedy, the program grew out of
a project called “A Poetic Journey Into the Cosmos”, a series of readings held
last year at Sydney Observatory”. They aired <i>Astronomical </i>on Saturday 27
March 2004 at 3:00 PM. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">When I was in my early 20s, the ABC took on an all-encompassing
presence in my life. I was hooked. I couldn’t get enough of what the ABC
offered. It seemed there was, and still is, something for everyone. I listen to
and watched almost everything that the ABC produced. The ABC had me hooked even
from an early age. If you grew up in the 1970s, <a href="https://iview.abc.net.au/show/classic-countdown">Countdown</a> was a
music program that had to be watched. I never missed a show. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">One of the things I love most about the ABC is Radio
National (RN). Today they have more than 60 programs. I specifically loved the program
<i>Airplay</i>, which aired on what is now known as RN. Unfortunately, this
program is no longer broadcast, but it provided so many great Australian and
international radio plays and offered the first voice to a large number of current
Australian actors. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/airplay/past-programs/">Airplay</a>
broadcast from 1997 to 2013.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Before <i>Airplay</i> there was <i>The Sunday Play</i> on what
was then called ABC Radio 2, or 2FC, which stood for Farmer and Company. That
was the original owner of the station before the ABC took it over. Back in the
early 1980s, the ABC used to produce a guide just for their radio stations. It
cost 40 cents. I kept a few copies which you can see in the picture in this
post. I gather they are worth a bit more today.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHowmsl6T6r7e4p0mWTwclJZa7390nFoN27jl8iGZM_G1p46VpK2Y2vm6smEzRdsDuCKVkNFEsP9_h0JZKNgsHPRp3ia2n5YERSkCbtoxzpGl7ZmtUOBs5Qa2yFN9sRNW2DDb46cBO1Gxw/s4275/ABC+Radio+guides.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2884" data-original-width="4275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHowmsl6T6r7e4p0mWTwclJZa7390nFoN27jl8iGZM_G1p46VpK2Y2vm6smEzRdsDuCKVkNFEsP9_h0JZKNgsHPRp3ia2n5YERSkCbtoxzpGl7ZmtUOBs5Qa2yFN9sRNW2DDb46cBO1Gxw/s640/ABC+Radio+guides.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You will see in the photo above how I used to highlight in red the
programs that I wanted to record. The rest I usually heard live.</span></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The mellow toned voice of Jaroslav Kovaricek presented two
of my most cherished ABC programs. These were <i>Dreamtime</i> and <i>Innerspace</i>.
I recorded over 100 broadcasts because the music was so unique. I heard sounds
that could not be found in almost any other place. I still use these recordings
every week when I need some headspace relaxation time. The music on <i>Dreamtime</i>
has inspired me to write many of my compositions.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jaroslav Kovaricek produced hundreds of <i>Dreamtime </i>programs;
over 500 from memory. <i>Innerspace</i> never ran for that long but offered a
new sound experience. I recorded only a few of those. Unfortunately, there is
almost no record of either of these programs today anywhere. I may be the only
person that has recordings of these amazing soundscapes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Other than the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), there
is nothing like the ABC on this planet. I can’t imagine living without the ABC.
Yet, the ABC might soon be gone. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Successive Liberal governments have been trying to kill off
the ABC. They want to see it gone because, in the words of former Liberal party
leader and former Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, they (the ABC) are
not on team Australia. The hard right of the Liberal party wants the ABC to be
sold off to private interests. Why? Because according to these people, the ABC
does not represent their ideology.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you don’t know what the Liberal party ideology is, just
take a look at the state of imbalance, greed, political spin and lies pushed
out by this unaccountable government. It’s sad to say, many people in Australia
want to see the ABC gone too. They believe the Liberal party spin and follow
them blindly. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you don’t want to see the ABC sold off, or dismantled,
you should do something about it. Write to your local member and ask them to
increase ABC funding so it can be maintained. They need to be able to go on to
provide the necessary programs that they have been creating for almost 100
years. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you don’t want the ABC gone, start talking to your
friends and relatives about how you, and they can save this national treasure.
Because the ABC is as important as Uluru, the Sydney Opera House, and the Great
Barrier Reef - just imagine all these treasures gone. </span></p></div><p></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-59340915583676611932020-09-01T15:49:00.001-07:002020-09-01T15:51:34.933-07:00Indigenous Constitutional Recognition<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Jou8wtGVjAclSd5ZJ1CowQZACQU8hOB2KGQfdR8ff-xyxnXQBSE4OkSYNQmwHqYUr7U7_57QjAwTqBPoP5PFpvYxNPdo7KOmUphmmO7QirkqdoBtuzd_DRwHAndY99qHrsuomImxepJr/s1920/Indigenous+Constitutional+Recognition.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_Jou8wtGVjAclSd5ZJ1CowQZACQU8hOB2KGQfdR8ff-xyxnXQBSE4OkSYNQmwHqYUr7U7_57QjAwTqBPoP5PFpvYxNPdo7KOmUphmmO7QirkqdoBtuzd_DRwHAndY99qHrsuomImxepJr/w512-h342/Indigenous+Constitutional+Recognition.jpg" width="512" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The National Indigenous Australian Agency
says, (2019, p.1) “The Australian Government is committed to recognising
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in the Constitution.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This suggested commitment has come about due
to other countries that have moved to recognise their indigenous peoples in
their constitutions and through treaties. It is also due to growing support
from indigenous and non-indigenous people and groups across Australia over many
years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Michelle Grattan said (2019, p.1) “The
Morrison government plans to hold a referendum in the next three years on
whether to enshrine constitutional recognition of Australia’s Indigenous people”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Reconciliation Australia CEO, Karen
Mundine said that the news of the constitutional recognition announcement is
(2019, p. 3) “a step in the right direction”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">However, there are groups and people who
oppose the constitutional recognition of indigenous people for a variety of
reasons. Oliver Milman of the Guardian said that according to the Naidoc
lifetime achievement award winner Tauto Sansbury, (2015, p.3) “I’d say 60% to
70% of Aboriginal people are interested in treaties rather than constitutional
change”.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some conservative members of parliament and
people in the news media are resisting the change for an indigenous voice in
parliament.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"> </span> Former Deputy Leader of the Liberal party
Barnaby Joyce suggested that a new voice in parliament would cause a third
chamber. Rosemary Bolger of the SBS reported (2019, p.1) that Joyce later
retracted his statement and apologised saying that he got it wrong. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Most states and territories identify indigenous
people in their constitutions. Indigenous Australians are recognised in the NSW
constitution, (2010) but only in the preamble. However, these changes do not allow
for any specific legal or political rights. They do not include land rights or
reduce discrimination, which would help to make our First Nations people feel
more included and respected in their own country.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Essential Media Communications took a poll
in (2019) which shows that most Australians want indigenous recognition in our
constitution and for them to have a voice in parliament. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My position on this issue is that any
change is unlikely. I base this on the fact that the Morrison Government have
only offered a plan for a referendum in the next three years and have not
created a system that will produce a definite outcome. This shows that they are
not as committed to recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Australians as they say they are. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There have been years of inaction on this
subject from all governments. It is likely that only upon being forced into
action by the Australian people will the Morrison Government move towards
recognising indigenous peoples in the constitution. But as this matter is not consistently
at the forefront of the mainstream media or in public debate, it is difficult
to maintain momentum on this issue.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Because of the lack of passion and
commitment from the present and past governments towards indigenous
recognition, this has created doubt about what the effects of recognition will
mean to all Australian people. The social, financial and possible governmental
changes that might occur because of constitutional change has many people and
parliamentary members worried. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are fears and uncertainty around
this proposed change because issues on this subject have not been clarified by
anyone from either side of the debate. Mainly because no one can decide what the
issues might be, regardless of all the past reports and studies. As there is no
clear path or plan for indigenous recognition, this makes it look all too difficult
and confusing for the Australian people, so they might vote against the
reforms.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It is clear from polling that the majority
of Australian’s want indigenous recognition. However, the figures are not so
one-sided in favour of a change. As of September 2016, only 57 per cent of
Australians polled are in favour of the change. As shown in the Essential Media
Communications poll. (2019)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken
Wyatt who is tasked with leading a national debate on indigenous recognition
now says that Australians will not be asked whether they want to see an indigenous
voice in parliament if the referendum happens in the next three years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This statement from Wyatt reported by Paige
Taylor from the Australian (2019, p.1) adds more confusion to the debate that
the Australian people thought they were having on this subject. This could
create a backlash among the wider indigenous community as it appears that
concerned voices and groups have not been consulted about this decision.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">While the Federal Labor Party has not been
vocal on this subject, they are now pushing for an indigenous voice in
parliament. Fergus Hunter of The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Labor's
Indigenous Australians spokesperson Linda Burney says, "Doors that [Mr
Morrison] has already shut can be reopened." (2019, p. 8) <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The fact that other countries have
recognised their indigenous peoples in their constitutions and can live in
social harmony shows that the same can be achieved in Australia. If Australia’s
indigenous peoples are recognised in the constitution and they get to have a
voice in parliament like other countries, this would most likely lead to
greater social harmony between all Australians. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If these reform proposals do get voted
upon and are passed, it could also improve the social balance and understanding
between Australians. Recognition would help Australia’s indigenous peoples
self-determination and decision-making around issues that directly affect them.
(Davis, M 2015)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">If they vote the proposed reforms down, or, it never actually gets up, not only might the debate never happen again, it could further increase the
social tension of Australian society and deteriorate the rights and hopes of
our indigenous peoples. This reform could help our indigenous population and
all Australians to better understand one another. It could help increase social
cohesion while benefiting our country in ways that are yet to be realised. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Reference List</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">Bolger, R 2019, <i>Barnaby
Joyce admits he was wrong to call Indigenous voice a 'third chamber'</i>, SBS,
Crows Nest NSW, viewed 29 August 2019, </span><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/barnaby-joyce-admits-he-was-wrong-to-call-indigenous-voice-a-third-chamber"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">https://www.sbs.com.au/news/barnaby-joyce-admits-he-was-wrong-to-call-indigenous-voice-a-third-chamber</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">Davis, M 2015, ‘Indigenous constitutional recognition
from the point of view of self-determination and its exercise through
democratic participation’, <i>Indigenous Law Bulletin</i>, vol. 8, no.1, pp.
10-14. Essential Media Communications, 2019, <i>Indigenous Recognition
Referendum</i>, Haymarket NSW, viewed 19 August 2019, </span><a href="https://www.essentialvision.com.au/indigenous-recognition-referendum"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">https://www.essentialvision.com.au/indigenous-recognition-referendum</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Grattan,
M 2019, <i>The Morrison government proposes
an Indigenous recognition referendum this term</i>, The Conversation, Parkville
Vic, viewed 26 August 2019, </span><a href="http://theconversation.com/the-morrison-government-proposes-an-indigenous-recognition-referendum-this-term-119998"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">http://theconversation.com/the-morrison-government-proposes-an-indigenous-recognition-referendum-this-term-119998</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Hunter,
F, 2019, <i>'Doors already shut can be reopened': Labor's plea for action on
Indigenous voice</i>, The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney NSW, viewed 30 August
2019, </span><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/doors-already-shut-can-be-reopened-labor-s-plea-for-action-on-indigenous-voice-20190828-p52lom.html"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/doors-already-shut-can-be-reopened-labor-s-plea-for-action-on-indigenous-voice-20190828-p52lom.html</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br />
<!--[endif]--><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;">Indigenous Australians recognised in NSW
constitution</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; line-height: 107%;"> 2010, video,
ABC, Sydney, Juanita Phillips (Host); Kristina Keneally (NSW Premier); Linda
Burney (NSW Community Services Minister)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Milman,
O 2015, <i>Indigenous Australians want treaty, not constitutional recognition,
says elder</i>, The Guardian, Australia, viewed 18 August 2019, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jul/12/indigenous-australians-want-treaty-not-constitutional-recognition-says-elder">https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/jul/12/indigenous-australians-want-treaty-not-constitutional-recognition-says-elder</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">National
Indigenous Australians Agency 2019, <i>Constitutional Recognition,</i> Canberra
ACT, viewed 15 August 2019, <<span class="MsoHyperlink">www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/constitutional-recognition></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Reconciliation
Australia 2019, <i>Constitutional
recognition announcement a positive step towards reconciliation</i>, Canberra
ACT, viewed 27 August 2019, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.reconciliation.org.au/constitutional-recognition-announcement-a-positive-step-towards-reconciliation/">https://www.reconciliation.org.au/constitutional-recognition-announcement-a-positive-step-towards-reconciliation/</a></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoEndnoteText"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Taylor,
P 2019, <i>Wyatt rules out indigenous voice in people poll</i>, The Australian,
Surry Hills NSW, viewed 17 August 2019, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/wyatt-rules-out-indigenous-voice-in-people-poll/news-story/60672a9a4b05f1b80805abc671ca6e96">https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/wyatt-rules-out-indigenous-voice-in-people-poll/news-story/60672a9a4b05f1b80805abc671ca6e96</a></span></span></p></div>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-80681044312107539082020-08-31T16:06:00.004-07:002020-08-31T16:21:37.027-07:00Whatever you do don’t talk about morals<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNaycEWFhfY7KaFN0rgwtPWJMOpWq_4dtfHnLe1xIT4k6Ov34IjkyJt0sBcLht-tWufmj2vy7-l749oepj_d8eYEGU3N6Tuz32XlVO2DhayCwwtznzDtIzKlO1qqct4LF2wGf-yrcx_4u/s1920/Whatever+you+do+don%25E2%2580%2599t+talk+about+morals.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNaycEWFhfY7KaFN0rgwtPWJMOpWq_4dtfHnLe1xIT4k6Ov34IjkyJt0sBcLht-tWufmj2vy7-l749oepj_d8eYEGU3N6Tuz32XlVO2DhayCwwtznzDtIzKlO1qqct4LF2wGf-yrcx_4u/w512-h342/Whatever+you+do+don%25E2%2580%2599t+talk+about+morals.jpg" width="512" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />What horrifies you more, a politician talking about morals
or <i>The Exorcist</i>? </span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I use the movie <i>The Exorcist</i> as an example of something that
is universally accepted as horrifying, well; it is by me. However, is it less scary than a politician
talking about morals? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Whenever you read something about a politician talking about
morals in a newspaper today, it usually comes across as, “who are these people
to talk to us about morals?” The outrage is palpable from columnists and in
opinion pieces when a politician dares say anything that even sounds like the
slightest expression of morality. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Simon Jenkins who writes for the Guardian wants his readers
to “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/10/boris-johnson-morality-covid-policies-schools-open-first-wave" target="_blank">Dive for cover – Boris Johnson is invoking 'morality' in his Covid policies</a>”.
The COVID-19 issue has raised moral concerns like never before. It has even affected
the sacred moral ground of professional sport, according to ESPN and
politicians. “<a href="https://www.espn.com.au/football/english-premier-league/story/4081350/premier-league-stars-lack-morals-in-coronavirus-crisis-politicians" target="_blank">Premier League stars lack morals in coronavirus crisis –politicians</a>”. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">COVID-19 has brought out many moral issues, but can people
please stop calling me a monster for scratching my face. Or giving me a look of
horror if I dare to cough in public. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">According to some newspapers, a certain political leader has
a diminished moral capacity. Yet other papers tell you that the same person is
the only moral hope for the world. Guess who I’m talking about? I won’t go into
the moral wrongs surrounding climate change, regardless of how real they are.
But why aren’t politicians talking about morals outside issues like the
pandemic? Do they really have no morals that they can talk about? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, they do. They are just as human and just as vulnerable
as everyone else. But why aren’t politicians talking about the moral good? When
Nietzsche killed off god in 1882, did the ability to talk about morals die too?
Or is it that politicians think that we don’t have any morals so there’s no
point in talking about them anymore? Or is it vice versa? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Politicians are scared about discussing morals because
they have created a vacuum of silence around morality. When we see things like
an Australian government bugging a neighbouring countries government to gain a
political and monetary advantage, and then try to silence anyone who points out
their illegalities, it’s no wonder politicians don’t talk about morals. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">However, that aside, if it’s possible, our leaders need to
be talking about morals so we can open up debate about what is right and wrong.
A vote once every three or four years is nowhere near good enough to express
our moral concerns. And for that to begin, we need our leaders to lead the way.
How do we do that? </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the 2019 book, <i>Do Morals Matter? Presidents and
Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump </i>by the American political scientist Joseph
Nye, he has constructed a scorecard for judging future presidents. Maybe it's
something like this that we should use to gauge the moral reasoning of not just
foreign policy, but all policies by politicians. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Imagine that. A moral scorecard for every policy. Imagine thinking
through and debating the moral issues surrounding national affairs. Hold on, I
hear you say, that’s why we have elected representatives. But are our
politicians debating the moral concerns around political matters? I think not. In
fact, I’m positive they do not. Our new moral scorecard could be something as
simple as a 1 to 10 rating that all voters could have a show of hands on. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If we can elect governments electronically, why not a vote
on policies electronically? Sure it would mean a lot more voting for us to do,
but as politicians cannot be trusted to do the right thing, it’s a small price
to pay to get morally just policies into action. If politicians are not going
to look at the moral implications when implementing policy, something needs to
be done. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">You could say the moral of this story is, it’s immoral to disregard
the moral issues of any policy.</span></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-59670403776045001082020-08-30T16:05:00.008-07:002022-02-08T15:54:14.901-08:00It's still happening today<p> </p><h3 style="text-align: center;">History like people can't change </h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftDwsEI6ut2fHO4i2oHL54J4pUjZ5JD6WwNEgCRQIaSpnDQoFZnFV3h2Uw6HZwtPpYxCqaOMvLCjStJRZYpIGkNdsYB71TSYTBlrJrp310v-5-DQ8Sjd0obczZ-SBhxfGmvDR9__07YMX/s1280/Is+the+truth+worse+than+a+lie.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1219" data-original-width="1280" height="488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhftDwsEI6ut2fHO4i2oHL54J4pUjZ5JD6WwNEgCRQIaSpnDQoFZnFV3h2Uw6HZwtPpYxCqaOMvLCjStJRZYpIGkNdsYB71TSYTBlrJrp310v-5-DQ8Sjd0obczZ-SBhxfGmvDR9__07YMX/w512-h488/Is+the+truth+worse+than+a+lie.png" width="512" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I've been watching the sentencing of this person who shot and killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand in 2019.[1] The relatives of the murdered spoke at the sentencing about their loss and grief. Some talked of their hatred of the killer, others forgave him. He sat silently and refused to make a statement. He just didn't care - history like people can’t change.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anyone who has studied history will know that what happened thousands of years ago still happens today. While at university, I recall my fellow history students expressing their incredulity at how our ancients treated one another. A common theme among the responses of the students when learning about historical crimes, wars, racism, and murder was, “my God, it's still the same today, nothing has changed”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, what might change people's attitudes?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Laws do not change people's outlook. For some, it may change their actions through fear of fines or incarceration, but laws do not change people's prejudices.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">School education does not change people's underlying bigotries. Societal pressures, the advice of loved ones and friends, does not and has not changed people.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Throughout history, and today, people look towards their leaders for guidance and ethics, and to set the standard for society. When was the last time you heard a leader speak out and voice a moral opinion, or offer guidance well before something devastating has happened?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our political and social leaders have failed us because they are too busy reacting to situations and covering things up rather than talking to and listening to people. Most of us remember and follow our parents' guidance and rules. Most of us carry these things with us throughout our lives. Our parents are not just parents, they are also leaders. But there are parents who have not taught their children moral lessons.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">There are lots of nasty and shabby things about our lives. But what lies at the heart of our problems is that we do not want to know ourselves. We fear ourselves. We hide from others thinking that they will think badly of us if we reveal ourselves. We blame others for our mistakes and our failings; we have always done this.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Most of us have the desire to change, to be a better person and to improve things. Unfortunately, most of us don't have the ability or the tools to achieve that change. This is where a good leader can step in and offer advice.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Almost every political leader throughout history has spent a large part of their life attaining leadership. Political leaders claw and fight for the top job, but when they get there, they do little more than grandstand. They know what it takes to get to be a leader, and again, unfortunately, they don't know how to be leaders. The confidence that we have in our political leadership is as low now as it has ever been. And it's our fault that our political leaders don't have what it takes to guide us. We don't ask enough of our political leaders before we vote them into power.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">One thing about history is that we know we can't change it, but we can learn from it. We've seen the effects of past actions upon societies, but continually keep falling into the same traps and repeat history.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Maybe our political leaders haven't studied history, but generally, that is not the case. Many of our leaders have multiple degrees and are highly educated people. Except for a few, most of our leaders lack insight and empathy, yet we voted for them. We voted the problem in.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If our leaders showed some backbone and came out and made statements about how the world can be a better place, and about how we should all treat each other better, that could be the catalyst for change. Our world is led from the top, yet those at the top are not leading. A few well-chosen words of advice, a statement or two on courage, strength and simply doing the right thing would go a long way to help guide people in a better direction.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Politicians think they must be political all the time. They are human, yet they rarely show it. They seldom say how they feel, and they never offer advice. This world needs good and confident leaders. We have enough spokespersons for causes and factions.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">A 10-minute pep talk once a week from our leaders about how we can improve things would help solve a lot of problems in this world and give us direction. Just like the series of evening radio addresses that U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave in the 1930s and 1940s.[2] It’s not much to ask to show us that you are as human as we are; we know you can be, show us, help us.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Words are powerful agents of change. Words inspire and lead us into action. Good leaders can change the world with their words. It’s time we heard from our leaders. It’s time they began to help us help ourselves and change society. Then maybe, people like the person who shot and killed all those Muslims in New Zealand might never have turn out the way he did.</span></p><div><hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" /><!--[endif]--><div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/kenro/Downloads/It%20is%20still%20happening%20today%20copy.docx#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> BBC, <i>Christchurch shooting: Gunman Tarrant wanted to kill 'as many as possible'</i>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53861456">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-53861456</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div id="ftn2"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><a href="file:///C:/Users/kenro/Downloads/It%20is%20still%20happening%20today%20copy.docx#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span face="" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 14.2667px; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> History.com, <i>The Fireside Chats</i>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireside_chats" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireside_chats</a></p></div></div></div>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-26118089360105815532020-08-28T15:10:00.001-07:002020-08-28T15:14:48.676-07:00Who-What-When-Where-Why<b>
Who</b><br />
Rob J Kennedy.<br />
<b>What</b><br />
This blog is about my experiences as a university student<br />
<b>When</b><br />
It began on July 1, 2019.<br />
<b>Where</b><br />
Canberra, the capital of Australia.<br />
<b>Why</b><br />
So it might inform and help others.<br />
<br />
July 1, 2019.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-45820656987302645492020-08-28T08:00:00.001-07:002020-08-30T16:14:20.386-07:00Can you have sober reasoning?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmipe-UNrHp2YcpqWaxwaewNcaAVsaPLNXMPEQlvkp3j-P-342RITS40DmCkqGJVhpB8c_35WWvljFusxQ8tBLbxy2nERItICc9BarIbXtwsTwXusz3aWdc-JhyGt3un6E5-r0Vna4qcL/s1274/Can+you+have+sober+reasoning.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="1274" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmipe-UNrHp2YcpqWaxwaewNcaAVsaPLNXMPEQlvkp3j-P-342RITS40DmCkqGJVhpB8c_35WWvljFusxQ8tBLbxy2nERItICc9BarIbXtwsTwXusz3aWdc-JhyGt3un6E5-r0Vna4qcL/w512-h106/Can+you+have+sober+reasoning.png" width="512" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you research and study anything for long enough, you will
come closer to understanding the basis of your subject. For most of my life, I
had a reason for everything I did. But continually, my reasoning was based upon
expediency. You see, I followed what I thought was the Epicurean pleasure
principle. Not the real one, but the one that has been widely promoted in the
general media.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I thought that when Epicurus said, “The end of all our
actions is to be free from pain and fear”, I assumed that he meant I should avoid
pain and fear. But with me, it was much more than avoidance, it was denying pain
and fear. And not only in myself, but in others too. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I didn’t want to know other people’s pain or grief. I didn’t
want to know my own. My main thought was, if I’m happy, so is everyone else
around me. And if they were unhappy, I didn’t want to know them. If I became discontented
with them, I pushed them out of my life. However, I could not escape myself. I
still had a lot of pain and fear. I was unhappy all the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I avoided discomfort by leaving painful situations. I dodged
fear by never looking at it or finding out why I had feared. I simply dismissed
these things and moved on to somewhere or someone new. When I found that I was
in pain or fear again, I ran away.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I thought that if I avoided pain and fear, my life would be
full of sensual delights. That wasn’t the case, it was the opposite. I found
that I had Agliophobia, which is a persistent, unwarranted, and often an irrational
fear of pain. In every situation, with every person, I found the same old fear
and pain. I had abandoned myself to a life of bodily desires and found that I
didn’t actually have a life. Eventually, I got tired of running and hiding. I had
exhausted myself more than anything else. It was simply too much trouble to
start over again and move on, to try to escape my fear of fear and pain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, how did I get over my Agliophobia and achieve this
miraculous enlightenment and change? I didn’t. I have not altered one solitary
thing about me from the age of 20 until now in my 60s. I spent 40 years in pain
and fear for no reason. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I’m still the same greedy, dipsomaniac liar that I have
always been. Nothing has changed my view of pleasure or the world. Pleasure is
still the goal of my life and I place it above other things and other people. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">I found no pleasure in reasoning. All analysis showed me was
how I had wasted my time analysing things. Because evaluating, considering,
exploring, and probing only made things worse. My unexamined life gave me the
pleasure I had always been seeking. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sounds counterintuitive? Not to me. What I’ve found is that
the best life is the longest life lived in pleasure. Though I avoid overt greed
and sloth; they are too much trouble to attain. I have resisted the urge of the
real Epicurean principle and built my own world of pleasure that is defined by
my terms and no other. I don’t have that outer classic life of hedonism like a
rock star or a billionaire, but inside, I do. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">From the outside, people see me as a sober, calm person of caring
and understanding. They see me this way because that’s what they want to see,
that’s what they expect other people to be. I’m not an ancient Roman who takes
what he wants and kills anyone who stands in my way. I don’t have to be a
Roman, or anything else. I let people believe that what they think I am, I am. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is how I killed off all my pain and fear. Other people
did it for me. Other people granted me a life of sober reasoning, at least from
their point of view I was a restrained person of logic. Regardless of how
irrational and dangerous my life really is, I am seen as a soul of calm and empathy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Maybe, in the eyes of others, the only way to have a life of
sober reasoning is to be seen to have sober reasoning. It looks like Gandhi and
Mother Teresa had sober reasoning, but it’s way too difficult to be like them. With
the hell and trouble that other people cause you, it’s best to let them think what
they want. This is how you can have sober reasoning. Let other people think
what they want of you. Inside, you can be anything you desire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">If you let other people think that you are what they think
you are, they will leave you alone to get on with your life of pleasure.</span></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-88733084649715474442020-08-27T17:42:00.005-07:002020-08-30T16:14:59.077-07:00Should Australia have non-compulsory Voting?<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvq4Eew2oHxFe7DpFsSh_wA0kjXy4FsWyVTIx6KftSF7YhyphenhyphenxEoKMKC7-kqsFLo0LcmCLjAXiSATyMgNrqX1BZJ9zsoGcodLINqETRB8TAN0lAd1WrpOQh3g75EJY3ehTCtjQrI9XcWA_6/s1280/Should+Australia+have+non-compulsory+Voting.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1257" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvq4Eew2oHxFe7DpFsSh_wA0kjXy4FsWyVTIx6KftSF7YhyphenhyphenxEoKMKC7-kqsFLo0LcmCLjAXiSATyMgNrqX1BZJ9zsoGcodLINqETRB8TAN0lAd1WrpOQh3g75EJY3ehTCtjQrI9XcWA_6/w502-h512/Should+Australia+have+non-compulsory+Voting.png" width="502" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">A democracy’s electoral system is fundamental to its
legitimacy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">If we are to have a legitimate democracy, the people
of Australia have to be engaged and involved with democracy, they are not. And,
there are good reasons why. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The University
of Canberra survey of June 2019, shows that “65% of Australians said they have
little or no interest in politics”.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">Many people say that they only vote, because they are
forced to vote.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">How do we turn this around?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">The Museum of Australian Democracy, and the Institute
for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra, have begun
the Democracy 2025 campaign to halt the decline in the lack of trust with our
democratic system. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">Democracy 2025 say, and I quote, “By 2025 if nothing
is done and current trends continue, fewer than 10 percent of Australians will
trust their politicians and political institutions — resulting in ineffective
and illegitimate government, and declining social and economic wellbeing”. End
quote.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">It is not hard to imagine how we got into this
position. But, is it too late to halt the decline in trust?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 6pt 0cm 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">I’m suggesting that we change to a non-compulsory
voting system. There are many arguments against compulsory voting, such as…<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">It’s undemocratic
to force people to vote</span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">You have to vote
even if you don’t like anyone on the ballot</span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">Reports show that Australians
are less politically interested than countries that have non-compulsory voting</span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">Compulsory voting
increases the donkey vote</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">People leave their
ballot paper blank because they are forced to vote. There were</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">720,915 informal
votes in the 2016 Federal Election. In the 2019 election, 1.5 million people on
the roll failed to vote. That is the worst result since the mid-1920s<o:p></o:p></span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">Plus, It costs
more to check for and prosecute people who have not voted</span></li></ul><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Non-compulsory
voting would make politicians more honest. Because, they would have to produce
policies that are more relevant to what the voters want.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">If Australians did
not have to vote, politicians would have to work harder to convince the people
who vote, that their policies will be good for the nation. Because the people
turning up to vote, they would be the ones with a vested interest in their
policies.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">An additional point,
non-compulsory voting would prove if Australians are as political apathetic as
it is said we are. But, I think we know that already.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Voting was
voluntary in early federal elections. Compulsory voting for federal elections
was introduced in 1925.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">The turnout
figures in the early elections were,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">1901 - 56.68%<br />
1903 - 50.27%<br />
1906 - 51.48%<br />
1910 - 62.80%<br />
1913 - 73.49%<br />
1917 - 78.30%<br />
1925 – 91.31%<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Compulsory voting
did increase the number of people who voted, but this is my point, did it make the
politics and the policies any better?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The Democracy 2025
campaign is trying to change the perception of our democracy. Some of the key
points they aim to foster are,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">rolling out
innovative best-practice solutions to the liberal democratic challenges faced
across Australia and the Asia-Pacific</span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">creating active,
engaged and informed citizens</span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">positively
influencing democratic leadership, capacity and practice</span></li><li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">promoting
excellence and innovation in democratic governance</span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I’d like to
suggest that other than simply changing the perception of our democracy, that the
Democracy 2025 campaign, also include an option, to look at non-compulsory
voting.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">Unquestionably,
non-compulsory voting would provide an immediate indication of how Australians
feel about our democracy. If the turnout figure went down to around 50%, like
it was in the early 1900s, it would indicate that half of us are not interested
in politics. Would it also indicate, that voters see there is no point voting,
because they end up with the same politicians, and the same policies all the
time, regardless of whether they vote or not?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Yes, it would.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: medium;">So the system
needs to change. And, we can start to change the system by making voting
non-compulsory.</span></p><p></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-4497708026202481252020-08-27T17:31:00.005-07:002020-08-31T16:02:42.073-07:00Politics 2120<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Ne-azrgUBqjJILFg02hgcJ5ATuq5_rfUfBt8v8tz5CYGa-rm4FpPaOZCbb1qByyJwe2n-gPMFXWSov7k1P1gAJga0n93Lt7USpomEVp4B3iUgBDvaLiZRvLKl1_nwDCW1jW6BjE74aCv/s1280/Politics+2120.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="1280" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Ne-azrgUBqjJILFg02hgcJ5ATuq5_rfUfBt8v8tz5CYGa-rm4FpPaOZCbb1qByyJwe2n-gPMFXWSov7k1P1gAJga0n93Lt7USpomEVp4B3iUgBDvaLiZRvLKl1_nwDCW1jW6BjE74aCv/w512-h290/Politics+2120.png" width="512" /></span></a></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">“The system that led us into our environmental, social and
economic position, is not the system that can lead us out” - Anonymous<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">In whatever year you read this, there are just three
possibilities of what your current political practice looks like. 1 - your
political system is the same as it has always been. 2 - you maintain a better
political system than the one I lived under in 2020. 3 - your political system
is worse than mine.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">To change yourself is hard enough, but to improve a
political system means amending the way things have been done for hundreds of
years. Only by changing the mindsets of people who are in a political system,
can we change a political system. As the public is not allowed to help improve
our political system, that is the greatest failing of the system we have.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Why does a political system in a stable country like
Australia need to be changed? If what we have a system that favours only one
section of society, which is the political ruling class, then to be fair and
equal, it should be changed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The political system that exists now, in 2020, is the same
system that existed in 1920. In one hundred years, there has been so little
progress that it is almost impossible to see any improvement.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Countless numbers of political parties and people have come
and gone who wanted to change things. Some tried to improve our political
system but were thwarted by those in power. Their efforts amounted to nothing.
We still maintain the same types of politicians implementing the same kinds of
policies as they did in 1920.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The reason we kept the same political system is that what
our forefathers set up is constructed not to be changed. Almost no politician
has had the will to create any real change. And that is because the system
holds the same people with the same ideologies in power. Our system is governed
by white middle-aged conservative males who have at their heart, vested
interests in keeping white middle-aged conservative males in power. These
people deny others who do not fit their way of thinking; their ideology. They
keep change out by preventing people from joining political movements based on
their race, sex and ideology.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Like a lot of countries, Australia has an almost equal
number of males and females. Our current elected government is the Liberal
Party (LP). There are 11 women in the LP, just one is Caucasian. The LP
consists of 61 males, all but one is Caucasian. There is not one woman in the
LP executive, and they are only Caucasian.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Our system prefers the same people who not only think the
same, but they must look the same.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Today, there are about seven million people here who were
not born in Australia. They have moved here and become citizens or permanent
residents. The population of Australia sits at 25 million; so, 28% of
Australians were not born here. However, in the LP team, there are two
non-Australian born people out of 72 in total. So less than three per cent of people
in the LP were not born here. And, only 11% of people in the LP are women.
While in Australia, over 50% of the population are women. I offer you these
figures to highlight how our political system works. Just in case you think I
am giving you fake news; you can research my claim. The figures show that our
political system supports by far just the one type of people. But, what’s more
important, these people all think, vote and make policies that benefit their
system and their ideology.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">So what can you do to change the system?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Your voice is important. Being heard is important. However,
by the time you step up to the microphone, it's too late. The system is set;
the stage is set for another show that contains more of the same dialogue
surrounded by the same worn-out ideology. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nothing will change if you get up to the microphone to
scream or cry out, because the system is still the same. You can't change the
system after it is set in place. You can scream and cry if you want, but you
will be screaming into a void where people cannot voice change, and no one is
listening. As the rock band, <i>The Who</i> said in their song <i>Won't Get
Fooled Again</i>, ‘meet the new boss, same as the old boss’. The new boss
learnt everything he knows from the old boss. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">You need to set up a new system if you want to affect change
that gets rid of bosses running everything. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The old boss learned to master the game of politics many
years ago. Now, the game can only be played within their rules. But, rules can
be remade. The game can be redesigned. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">The past democratic political systems have many attributes
that are worthwhile including in a new system. You don’t need to reinvent the
wheel; you just need to make sure it well lubricated with the right balance of
fairness and equality. Injustice is the block in the road that holds back
progression. To remove that blockage, the system needs to be changed.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;">When the major roadblocks in our political system are
removed, the road to further change will become much easier to achieve. We can
then start to see real progress and achieve equality for all.</span></p></blockquote><p></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-85705620885936184512020-08-27T17:26:00.005-07:002020-08-31T16:02:56.452-07:00Empathy Deficit Politics: Time for a Direct Democracy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4p225wnaFu-Nj1YeCCFD2X4_XoFt36_HLKdC4-aPFcKd06iRKGKAeUloZkVxbjQmVWwNNcgAm1pFs6GngyztaG1jmtUbb1gnW3H8IEnvd5VSWeF7gprv0d_h71zFww022_6hTvPB8A3l/s1920/Empathy+Deficit+PoliticsTime+for+a+Direct+Democracy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1920" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB4p225wnaFu-Nj1YeCCFD2X4_XoFt36_HLKdC4-aPFcKd06iRKGKAeUloZkVxbjQmVWwNNcgAm1pFs6GngyztaG1jmtUbb1gnW3H8IEnvd5VSWeF7gprv0d_h71zFww022_6hTvPB8A3l/w512-h342/Empathy+Deficit+PoliticsTime+for+a+Direct+Democracy.jpg" width="512" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Few people need to be taught what empathy is. But, after recent comments
by our Prime Minister maybe he can use a few lessons.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Our Prime Minister Scott Morrison recently attacked Labor’s suggestion to
increase unemployment benefits claiming it as “unfunded Newstart empathy”.[i]
Then there is his government's uncaring, perhaps soon to be judged illegal, and
dehumanising Robodebt scheme.[ii] The results of which have seen people
actually taken their lives because of being hit by a computer-generated letter
that tells them that they are in debt to the government and must pay it back
now.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">If anyone wanted a picture of what a lack of empathy looks like, they
need look no further than the Robodebt scheme operating under this Liberal
Government.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">When it comes down to understanding each other and sorting out issues, a
conservation is the best method to achieve this and not a letter of demand from
an artificial intelligence system that has been poorly set up and poorly
managed.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Companies
that have policies that show an affinity, association, or a relationship to
their customer's needs do much better than companies that have little empathy
for customer requirements. “How this traditionally soft skill yields hard,
bottom-line results for organizations big and small”.[iii]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Empathy is
an innate, and a learned skill. However, for political expediency and trying to
destroy the opposition because that is the way a government dominates political
discourse, when a government shows no empathy, then they are failing the
majority of the population and lacking a basic human quality.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Empathy
killers are,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jargon<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Poor
education<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Intolerance<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Haste<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Looking
the other way<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Criticising
others without putting yourself in other people’s shoes<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="" style="font-family: Symbol; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Judging
people</span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Another
strong reason for everyone to learn and show empathy is it is good for the
health of our nation and for the health of our citizens. Just imagine having an
unempathetic doctor or nurse? What if Scott Morrison went to a public doctor
and not his private personnel doctor who is paid for by the public purse and
the doctor said, sorry, you haven’t funded us properly, I can’t treat you. I
wonder what he’d think about unfunded empathy then?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The decline
in compassion and understanding shown by certain politicians in Australia,
especially when it comes to Aboriginal people, refugees and the unemployed, all
the people who have had their voices taken away, has had a serious effect on
their health. In turn, the health of our nation in the eyes of the world is
seen as poor and failing, which it is.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Empathy has
limits on what it can achieve. And, that’s why we need more than empathy. The
Australian people need to be able to vote directly on policies that affect the
health of our nation in our eyes, and in the eyes of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A direct
democracy where people get to decide on policy initiatives would save us the
time to teach politicians empathy, which they should have learned through their
life but clearly have not. You and I getting to vote on primary legislation
that directly affects us would mean that we get policies that are aligned to
what we want and not what a select few in government want to maintain their
ideology and power over us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If we want
to improve our political system, we have the power to insist on direct
democracy by writing to your local member, or by forming a new party.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">[i]ttps://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/29/unfunded-empathy-scott-morrison-pushes-back-on-growing-calls-to-lift-newstart-rate
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="font-size: medium; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">[ii]
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-18/hundreds-have-already-beaten-centrelinks-robodebt/11523278<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>[iii]
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/322302</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-40657660249937344682020-08-07T15:10:00.004-07:002020-09-01T15:30:37.440-07:00Learning about Journalism<h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
Where do I begin?</span></h2>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
One of my favourite things is to listen to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) news every morning.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
I choose the ABC because I beleive that they have the most informative and balanced news reporting in Australia. In fact, a lot of what I know about the world comes from ABC programs. Plus, no ads. I also take in as much news as possible from many other sources.<br />
<br />
The ABC has a greater range of investigative news, ideas, and programs than any other media outlet in Australia. It's the same for the British Broadcasting Corporation (</span><span style="font-size: large;">BBC) in the UK, but I have to say, that the BBC does it better than the ABC. They have been doing it longer, but only by 10 years. ABC began in 1932, the BBC in 1922.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">
<br />
Below are the sites, papers, and magazines I read every day. I subscribe to The Guardian because, for me, it has the best-written content and a greater variety of coverage and stories outside the ABC and the BBC.<br />
<br />
<b>Non-subscription</b><br />
ABC<br />
Deutsche Welle<br />
BBC<br />
NPR<br />
SBS<br />
Google News<br />
The Saturday Paper<br />
The Monthly<br />
Smart News app and Feedly for journalism stories<br />
<br />
<b>Subscriptions</b><br />
The Guardian<br />
Wired<br />
Skeptic<br />
Minerva<br />
World Literature Today<br />The Philosophers Magazine<br />Philosophy Now<br />Australian Quarterly</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Learning about journalism is similar to learning about music. Both can be done, to a point, by listening and reading. There is a large variety of journalistic sources to choose from on the internet, but not a lot locally. Most of the interesting and informative sites on journalism are international ones.<br />
<br />
I go twice a week to my university library to find suggested reading for the course and also at the National Library of Australia to select books related to the study of Journalism. I hope that this course will offer me the hard facts about journalism.<br />
<br />
Here is the course I am doing. <a href="https://www.canberra.edu.au/coursesandunits/course?course_cd=ARB102&version_number=1&title=Bachelor-of-Communication-and-Media-(Journalism)&location=BRUCE&rank=AAA&faculty=Faculty-of-Arts-and-Design&year=2019">Bachelor of Communication and Media (Journalism) - ARB102</a><br />
<br />
July 3, 2019.</span></div>
Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-38119383992585538212020-08-05T17:15:00.001-07:002020-09-01T15:24:03.472-07:00Should a reader have to fact-check a story?<h2>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">What's happened to journalism in the past five years?</span></h2>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">When did the idea begin that a reader should have to fact check a story
in a Newspaper? Editors and reporters are supposed to do that, not the public.
Does this mean that every article in every newspaper has to be fact-checked by
the reader to confirm if it is not fake news?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">The <a href="https://www.canberra.edu.au/research/faculty-research-centres/nmrc" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">News and Media Research Centre</span></a>,
which is part of the University of Canberra produced the <i>Digital News
Report: Australia 2019. </i>Contained in the vast amount of
information they state, "One of the biggest divisions between news
consumers stems from differences in education and income. Consistently, those
with lower education and income consume less news, are less interested, are
less likely to pay, and are less likely to fact-check news."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">I assume that their findings bare out this statement, but, I wonder how
many people in the world fact-check the news? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">How does a reader fact-check an article? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">The independent American media organisation National Public Radio (NPR)
offers some hints. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/12/05/503581220/fake-or-real-how-to-self-check-the-news-and-get-the-facts#tips" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Fake Or Real? How To Self-Check The
News And Get The Facts</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://factcheck.org/"><span style="color: blue;">FactCheck.org</span></a>,
which checks stories mainly about the USA is another site to head to for
fact-checking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and the Royal Melbourne
Institute of Technology (RMIT) have their <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/factcheck/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Fact Check</span></a> site.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">The independent news website Crikey have their <a href="https://www.crikey.com.au/column/fact-check/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">fact-check column</span></a>. And there are others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">You can go to these sites and check on stories and, you can even ask
them to run a fact-check for you. But who checks the checkers?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">How do you know that these sites are not more fake news? The truth is,
you don't. Unless you want to run your own check on the information on these
sites. But who has time to do that? Do we just have to at some point say, OK, I
believe this? But how can you trust them? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">The nature of fact-checking is a tricky business. Finding actual truths
or hard facts are hard to uncover. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;">Whatever method you use to check the truth of a story, it is clear that
with the proliferation of fake news in the world, that you have to do something
to check on what you are reading, hearing and seeing. It's a sad fact that we
have to do this, but that is a fact. Maybe that is the only fact we can truly know. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">July 7, 2019.</span></span></span></div>
</h2>
Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-77725214782854431782020-08-03T20:52:00.002-07:002020-09-01T15:35:53.717-07:00What is Journalism?<h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
Defining anything is hard, but can it be done?</span></h2>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
What I've learnt so far is that today, and maybe since journalism was invented, journalism is meant to hold up and represent values that are similar to what religion and the police force are meant to represent, or is that do?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
It's suggested that Julius Cesare invented journalism when in 59 BCE he had posted in public spaces his Acta Diurna (Daily Acts). In other words, news. It was not all the news that was fit to print, but it was a start.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Journalism didn't become a specialised and autonomous filed until the 19th century. But, professional news people existed as far back as the 17th century. The first privately published English newspaper was the <i>Corante. </i>Its first edition was printed in 1621.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
The functions of journalism are said to be...</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;">
To act as a mirror of society</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">
To help keep the people in power honest</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">
To act as an agent for good</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">
To protect, inform and promote democracy</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">
To tell the world what is happening</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;">
To protect the public interest</span></li></ul></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
These edited six points come from <i>News as it Happens</i>, 2nd Ed by Stephen Lamble.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
This list sounds unrealistic to me. Because few people in the world operate by these rules, or morals if you like, so why should they choose to obey these rules just because they work for a newspaper? If you've read any newspaper, you will see that they don't, though several try hard.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Today, creating news without views seems impossible. Editorials I find a waste of time. How is it that an editor thinks that they have a right to tell the public what is right for them just because they edit a newspaper? Even if editorials are written, or edited by a group of skilled writers, no newspaper has the right to tell people what is the right way to think about a subject.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Once, some person came up with the idea that NEWS stood for North, East, West. South. In a way, this is a good description of what news is. Because it comes from all directions with all the usual inflections connected to this information. An editorial comes from one direction and it is meant to tell you what to think. Rarely does an editorial suggest. Have a read of any editorial and you will find the word "must". Editorials tell you what you must think. They tell you what others must do. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
You will notice in the six functions of journalism above that none mention you must listen to and act upon what an editor tells you. If I had a friend who told me what I must do every day, they would not be my friend for long.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Journalism is not about telling people what they must think or do. For me, journalism is about informing people about what is going on in the world. News should be news not views.<br />
<br />
July 4, 2019.</span></div>
Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-23886078132011059082020-08-01T18:58:00.001-07:002020-09-01T15:21:40.904-07:00The need for journalism<h2><span style="font-size: medium;">
Do we need journalism?</span></h2>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
James Madison Jr. was a Founding Father of the United States of America. He also served as the fourth president of the USA. Madison said, "A well-informed citizenry is necessary for a democracy."</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
I say that a well-informed public is the foundation of democracy.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
The importance of news is measured by the public, not by journalists. After personal research among friends, I found that few cared about journalism and few trusted what journalists created. This shocked me. These same people glue themselves to the news every night in front of the TV. I wondered if it was because they wanted to be informed about what was happening in the world or they wanted to be entertained as they ate their dinner. I have not found the answer to that, but it seems it is more about entertainment than news.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Like most things in the world, people only care about a matter when it directly affects them. However, when it does affect them, the problem is out of their reach because they have let it slip by through not being concerned or informed. Then they scream at the TV, like me.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Journalism has changed so much since the internet that I am not sure what journalism is anymore. Is it hard news from an established and trusted source? Is it blogs, Twitter tweets, Facebook posts or is it simply an image on Instagram?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
The need to define things like journalism, music styles and movie categories have basically gone since the year 2000. But journalist scream from the rafters that journalism is still important and necessary, even when no one can define what journalism is anymore. It seems that good journalism and bad journalism are both slopped into the same bucket today.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
When someone shouts fake news when a journalist points out their mistakes, and this person is in power, people become blinkered and say, yeah, all news is fake unless the person that I follow tells me whether it is fake or not. So journalism loses. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
The trust that has been built up over hundreds of years in journalism is now gone because of people shouting fake news. How did we get to be so gullible and ignorant that we let a few people decide what is right and wrong for us? But this is the case. How do we combat this?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
How can journalism make its point if it has been branded untrue even before stories are written? </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
We have to take ownership of our education and not let anyone tell us what is right or wrong without the facts. And that's what good journalism is about. Facts are more important than views, editorials or opinions.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
News people need to report only facts. There is no such thing as and there never will be a post-truth world. Truth is permanent and it cannot be altered unless you let it be. When you stop believing in yourself and start believing in others without the facts, because it's easier, you have let yourself and the world down.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
Do we need journalism? If you want to be cheated of your rights, you don't need journalism. If you want views and not news, you don't need journalism. If it's alright that crime and corruption flourish underneath our society, we don't need journalism. If you want to be lied to and in the end wind up feeling like you've been robbed of your rights, dignity and your livelihood while others get rich by not paying you a fair wage, you don't need journalism.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: medium;">
July 5, 2019.</span></div>
Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-70650309364714343882020-08-01T16:28:00.000-07:002020-08-28T15:11:27.584-07:00What's so good about Journalism?<h2>
Why Journalism?</h2>
Why would anyone in their right mind want to begin a journalism degree today when it looks like the news industry is falling apart? Why would someone who is almost 60 and was supposed to have their working career behind them start out on a new path?<br />
<br />
Circumstances can lead you anywhere in life. But, there's one thing that has never changed for me over my life, and that's a love of the truth. That's not to say that I am always truthful and above reproach, far from it. However, as someone who as an inbuilt bullshit detector that is always on, becoming a journalist is something I should have done much earlier in life.<br />
<br />
If there's one thing that life has taught me, it's that no one tells the truth all the time. Only liers say they tell the truth all the time.<br />
<br />
And, that's OK. Every person who ever lived lied for all their lives. Most of the time, the lies are small, non-life threatening and are used for expediency. Why? Because no one believes the truth and it's the quickest way to get you out of trouble, so you and I think. Why is it that the truth almost never sounds real? Why do we think that even in the most minute of ways that telling the truth will make us out to sound and look like a lier?<br />
<br />
Humans are unrealistic. We place all sorts of unrealistic expectation on ourselves and others. When we fail to meet these expectations, we lie. A lie is seen as the easiest and quickest solution to explaining why we didn't do what we said we were going to do or what we were asked to do.<br />
<br />
Over the years of this journalism degree, I aim to turn my bullshit detector on myself and write without editing, except spelling, without pictures, unless absolutely necessary, and to never include links to articles supporting my view. I will not include comments from anyone. I don't want my writing swayed by others or taken in directions that I didn't start out heading towards.<br />
<br />
Journalism has always been the best medium for telling and exposing the truth. Regardless of where it is today that fact has not changed. That's what is good about journalism and that's why I am doing this degree and writing this blog.<br />
<br />
I hope this will be enlightening, informative and entertaining - now, onto the journey.<br />
<br />
July 2, 2019.Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-1844109421966310272019-10-31T14:38:00.001-07:002020-09-01T15:21:24.073-07:00How scary is AI generated text?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgLFoVg60lQNGU_Xpp_unUo1G98s42-7QgYDCNDJSTEiLlKzm39gDtrai8Llc21xAvChV88SQMo6mU8xPdf02qy9RB8xatpi-fjWomCcO9LnZg3WEfoy6gmFrhrtt0Vc1iEE98dRpt61B/s1600/Image+by+Gordon+Johnson+from+Pixabay.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="640" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgLFoVg60lQNGU_Xpp_unUo1G98s42-7QgYDCNDJSTEiLlKzm39gDtrai8Llc21xAvChV88SQMo6mU8xPdf02qy9RB8xatpi-fjWomCcO9LnZg3WEfoy6gmFrhrtt0Vc1iEE98dRpt61B/s400/Image+by+Gordon+Johnson+from+Pixabay.png" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;">Image by </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/users/GDJ-1086657/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2727571" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; cursor: pointer; font-family: "open sans", sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; white-space: nowrap;">Gordon Johnson</a><span face="" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; white-space: nowrap;"> from </span><a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=2727571" style="background-color: white; color: #191b26; cursor: pointer; font-family: "open sans", sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; white-space: nowrap;">Pixaba</a>Y</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br />
<br />
As part of my journalism degree, I get to learn a lot about fake news.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://openai.com/" target="_blank">OpenAI</a> and other groups have developed artificial intelligence programs that can create automated text on any subject, even strictly academic content.<br />
<br />
In February, OpenAI unveiled a language model called GPT-2 that generates coherent paragraphs of text one word at a time. So, I tested it out. While for me, the article it generated, was complete gobbledegook, I wonder how real it would come across to other people, I mean other voters.<br />
<br />
Here is what it produced with only minor editing on this heading "The Australian Labor Party will win the 2022 election and here's why".<br />
<br />
</span><h2><span style="font-size: medium;">
The Australian Labor Party will win the 2022 election and here's why with exclusive election forecasts.</span></h2><span style="font-size: medium;">
Labor's odds to win the 2022 election are looking good.<br />
<br />
With Liberal Party polling lead falling in the wake of the May budget, this is a time for rethinking the balance between the ALP and crossbench.<br />
<br />
Liberal Party polling lead could drop as much as 40 points in the coming six weeks as opinion trends have already turned.<br />
<br />
Even more alarmingly for Morrison, the ALP's poll numbers have shifted sharply since October 2019.<br />
<br />
The Coalition's election fortunes are mixed at best. Even with the Morrison government's unpopularity and the Labor Party's current political weakness, Morrison’s own numbers are still trailing Albanese by a long way.<br />
<br />
If Albanese makes little progress on reforms to pension reforms – which Labor still claims are necessary to "ensure we live better for longer" – the Coalition will still fall a long way short of governing.<br />
<br />
This polling is from a slightly wider sample so more precise numbers are needed, but Morrison’s party, with 37 per cent support, would still need about 60 seats at least to have absolute control.<br />
</span><div>
<br /></div>
Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-46974149104134663302019-08-16T19:38:00.000-07:002019-08-16T19:38:19.858-07:00The Job of Journalism<h2>
</h2>
<h2 style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 2;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">When did journalism go wrong?</span></span></b></h2>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">From my research of the Canberra Times, my local paper, which began in
1926, editorial opinions starting entering their paper around the 1970s. So
editorial opinions have been with us for around 50 years. How this changed people's
views and ideas back then we can't know. But today opinions, views, and
commentary in newspapers have a major effect on the views of the people who
read them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Opinion columns are one of the most popular parts of a newspaper today.
As I have said, I fail to understand the popularity of opinion columns, but it
is most likely that their popularity is due to the content of these opinions
reinforcing people’s views.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Regardless of whether these views are right, wrong, inaccurate or are
just outright lies pushed by editors who want to drive an issue, in my opinion,
they have no right being in a newspaper. Opinions are not news. Opinions are
cheap, facts are hard but rewarding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">I attended the 2019 Kenneth Myer Lecture on Thursday 15.08.2019 at the
National Library of Australia. The speaker was the well-known UNESCO Chair in
Journalism & Communication at the University of Queensland, author, and
journalist, Peter Greste. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTQz_I-y2PZwwk6_Cp_mokxeC0VRHUE2KDkbQbjQajJr8Nu0uZg8S-4_6rh-kbd2zW5KfgSKOxSUgwQ7FBcSIAWVNXbF9fVZSgDDks-Dy7CKwgdr3FpMHcP5TPyBBTcaFkF-xZBJ_tTU-/s1600/Greste.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1139" data-original-width="1600" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlTQz_I-y2PZwwk6_Cp_mokxeC0VRHUE2KDkbQbjQajJr8Nu0uZg8S-4_6rh-kbd2zW5KfgSKOxSUgwQ7FBcSIAWVNXbF9fVZSgDDks-Dy7CKwgdr3FpMHcP5TPyBBTcaFkF-xZBJ_tTU-/s400/Greste.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 9.5pt;">Peter Greste<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;">He spoke about <i>Press Freedom in Australia: And why it is in Crisis</i>.
He also talked about the need for a 'Press Freedom Act' and making sure it
contained an appropriate mix of rights for security agencies and the press.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-AU;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">I managed to get to ask him a question after his speech. My question was
"With the amount of comment, opinions, and views in newspapers today, do
you feel that this has pushed governments towards eroding press freedoms?"<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">His answer was yes. "This has indisputably helped to erode press
freedom around the world.", Greste said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">It does not look like that media outlets are looking at or even thinking
about curbing the commentary in their newspapers. So they can probably only
expect their press freedoms to be further eroded the more vocal and one-sided
they become. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">It's clear that some editorials are balanced and probably do produce
positive outcomes. It's also clear that the rubbish that is purported to be
editorials and commentary by some is doing nothing but harm and further
disrupting a disjointed world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">I hope to one day get a job in a paper where I am allowed to report on
security, political and civil matters without hindrance from our government and
its agencies. But if newspapers continue to push out so much commentary, there
might be no journalists jobs available because governments might restrict their
activities to a point where no reporting of issues is possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt; font-weight: normal;">Let's hope that media outlets find a balance and work with governments
and vice versa to maintain the continued reporting of the news, which we all
know is vital for a democracy.</span></div>
Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-27188052754326252452019-08-10T16:15:00.002-07:002020-09-01T15:22:13.219-07:00Can Digital Journalism be Trusted?<h2>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">If everything is digital today is it
reliable?</span></b></h2>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Today's media environment seems to be complicating matters. We know that
almost everything we touch in the digital world, that someone somewhere can see
our fingerprints on what we have accessed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Some media groups are so worried about being spied on that they document
their investigations on computers that are not connected to the internet, or in
fact, some create their content on typewriters. Certain media outlets
tell people to only submit stories and tip-offs through snail-mail and will not
speak to informers or whistle-blowers over any sort of phone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Are they paranoid? Not in the least. If you've seen the stories from
Australia and around the world of governments, criminal and business agencies
tracking, finding and harassing, charging and killing journalists, you'll
know they are not paranoid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">With the click of a mouse button, anyone can put anything out across the
world today. That doesn't mean that people are going to see it or can find it,
but the more outrageous it is, the better chance it has of being found.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Where does all this lead to for the consumer? In fact, is the idea of
the traditional audience/consumer for media information obsolete now?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Society is dramatically different today than it was 20 years ago. Many
traditional businesses and social models have been disrupted, broken and some
have even disappeared. Everyone is talking at everyone else, and who is to be
trusted? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">The way that technology has advanced and the public's consumption of media has changed, some are even
predicting that written content will disappear in the future; when that is, no
one is game enough to state. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">In one of my journalism classes, the question was asked, who has a
traditional TV in their house? Everyone in the class put their hand up; there
were more than 50 students. But then, the teacher asked, who does <u>not </u>watch
that TV? About 30% of the students put their hands up. They were getting their
news and entertainment on their computers, tablets, and phones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Our digital news is vastly different from what happens on TV, radio and
in print. Is digital news reliable? No, it is not. It cannot be trusted.
Someone with an axe to grind, a group with an untested view and even
traditional media outlets are pushing out fake, incorrect and unreliable news.
It's no wonder people are predicting the death of the written word and
traditional media when for the sake of getting the most hits, people are
publishing crap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Digital media is measured and created on how many people are clicking stories.
They are not measuring audience engagement, interaction or reactions to stories
other than where and how many times stories are shared. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">But, there are groups who are fighting against all the noise of
misinformation and outright lies. It looks like that almost nothing you read or
see online can be trusted, and I'm of the opinion that today, that is the only
thing that can be trusted. Don't trust anything you read, hear or see online.
Because the chances are, someone has manipulated it to gain some benefit for
themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;">Unless you fact-check and cross-check everything I have just written, you
cannot know what I'm saying is true.</span></div>
</h2>
Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-13980972283898891652019-07-25T17:39:00.000-07:002019-07-25T17:39:37.008-07:00Choose your news wisely<h2>
Where do you get your news?</h2>
Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus C.55 – 135 AD, said, "[t]he essence of human nature, is the faculty of choice."<br />
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How do you choose your news? Are the papers your parents read the ones you read today? For me, the answer is yes. Until the internet arrived, I never thought much about where my news came from. When I got interested in the news, I just bought the paper my parents bought, The Sydney Morning Herald.<br />
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Today, we have thousands of choices to read the news from points of views that are so different it can be mind-boggling to sort out who is telling the truth.<br />
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Here is the way one person has decided to find their news. <i>What is agreeable is true. What is disagreeable is false</i>; hence fake news. You might guess that person is the current president of America, Donald Trump.<br />
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One can assume that what Donald Trump finds disagreeable hurts his views, and or America's views, as he sees it. And what he finds agreeable favours his views, and or American views.<br />
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If we only get our news from places that align with our pre-existing opinions, then we are likely never to find anything new in our news. That type of news just adds weight to our biases.<br />
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As a normal citizen, the favouring of that "news gathering" technique might cause you harm. Because you only get information that you already agree with and not having all the information will harm you. But as a president of a country who guides millions of people and is in charge of the most powerful nation on earth that is very dangerous. Because not everyone thinks like the president of America, and some of his thoughts may be wrong or misguided.<br />
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The radicalisation of people to whatever idea comes from people only accessing one side of the news or information. What is being taught at some universities and schools around the world is how news can be tested and verified. So a student will end up with a more balanced view of subjects. The issue with this can be there is so much opinion, views, and commentary in the news today that the real news is hard to find and difficult to process.<br />
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The principle that drives our filtering of the news is based upon our pre-existing views. If schools and universities can teach students how to process the news to find the facts of a story, I'd suggest that societies will end up with a more balanced and empathetic graduate. And not just people who have a one-world view and create policies based on that view.<br />
<br />Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-39072938225419799512019-07-18T16:46:00.000-07:002019-07-18T16:46:49.530-07:00What can journalism do for me?<h2>
Who needs Journalism?</h2>
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As much as I criticise certain practices of journalism and media outlets, we need them.<br />
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Journalism is supposed to mirror humanity. Newspapers report on what humans and nature does. How do we know that journalists are getting it right? How can we know that they are telling the truth?<br />
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Our relationships with each other and the trust we put in our governments and the rules they make are based upon them doing the right thing. We trust our partners and friends and our governments to do the right thing. When they don't do what we expect, it lets us down, and we feel betrayed.<br />
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Newspapers and journalists have a job that sets them apart from most of us in society. They set out to tell the truth about matters. Few of us will tell the truth if it hurts or inconveniences us or our loved ones. Newspapers have a tradition of exposing and telling the truth. They also have a history of lying, covering things up and not reporting on matters if it sets them or their views in a bad light.<br />
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That's one of the major problems with newspapers. They should not have a view. But the reality is they do. Almost every newspaper today takes sides and puts forward their views. Therefore, they should not be trusted.<br />
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However, we still need them. Newspapers can't be trusted 100% of the time, neither can anyone on this earth, but they are necessary. Imagine a world without newspapers and journalists. Actually, you don't have to imagine, just look at certain countries or read George Orwell's 1984.<br />
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I hate thinking that for every story I read in a newspaper I have to fact-check it. But this is what needs to be done if you want to find out the real truth of a story. In a previous article, I suggest several methods. <a href="https://candourist.blogspot.com/2019/07/should-reader-have-to-fact-check-story.html" style="color: #3778cd; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">Should a reader have to fact-check a story?</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
We need journalism to be as accurate as possible. There are several groups around the world that are trying to make journalism better and more accountable. The <a href="https://www.spj.org/index.asp" target="_blank">Society of Professional Journalists </a>is one. A few media outlets have set up training centres for journalists, like the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/careers/trainee-schemes-and-apprenticeships/journalism/jts" target="_blank">Journalism Trainee Scheme</a> by the BBC.<br />
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The ABC in Australia has a program that lets people know how their government works. <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/who-runs-this-place/" target="_blank">Who Runs This Place?</a> Which, "explores who has real clout in Australia and how power works and how it is changing."<br />
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Things like "Who runs this place?" is one of the things that journalism can do for you. For instance, in their program <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/who-runs-this-place/the-lobbyists/11228690" target="_blank">The Lobbyists</a> you can hear how they discover that there are 1700 lobbyists who have security passes that give them access to our elected officials in the Australian Parliament. The fact that there are only 227 members in the senate and the house of representatives, that's a lot of lobbyists. Some lobbyists work for companies who have made donations to our political parties.<br />
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It is facts like these that we need journalism for. Good journalism helps hold our democracy accountable. Countries that do not have a free press suffer from a lack of basic human rights. Good journalism can help maintain your rights.Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2715028188328476214.post-70067722205548685762019-07-17T18:21:00.001-07:002020-09-01T15:22:33.455-07:00What is journalism for?<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">What is a newspaper today?</span></span></h2>
<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I was born in 1960. Australian newspapers of that time contained almost only news and advertisements. Searching through <a href="https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/#" target="_blank">Trove</a>, I found no commentary, views or opinion on the news from papers back then.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The same newspapers today contain much more than just news and ads. There is basically something for everyone today in a standard newspaper. But there is also opinion columns, views on many news subjects and commentary included in news articles. Why is there a difference between then and now?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is it that newspapers are trying to emulate the type of discussion that happens on social media sites? I don't think so, because opinion columns in newspapers predate social media as we know it now. Some in America go back to the early 1900s.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">While some newspaper articles contain opinions of experts, witnesses, and participants, most newspapers today include comment about leading news stories from their editors. I don't know about you, but I don't buy newspapers to read comments on what an editor thinks about the actions of others. I do not read op-ed columns and never have. But newspapers make them an important section of their publications.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Many newspaper editors are more informed about issues in the world, but their opinions are no more important than the opinions of anyone else. Why the world has bought into the idea that editors can solve the problems of the world better than anyone else remains a mystery to me. Do we want to be directed by someone we don't even know, so, therefore, cannot possibly trust?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I feel op-ed columns and the like is one of the reasons that people have turned away from newspapers today. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The prime function of a newspaper is to expose and tell the truth. Opinions, no matter how well informed, they only cover one side of the story, unlike factual journalism. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I find newspapers and media outlets supporting one side of politics or the other to be an immoral use of their function. Newspapers that do this are not newspapers, they are tools of a one-sided and oppressive organisation.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Newspapers and media outlets that support one side of anything have ruined what used to be a fair and free communication tool for the people of the world. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Newspapers should seek the truth and report on it. Newspapers should balance the publics need to know while minimizing harm and remain within the law. Newspapers should be accountable and transparent and supply ethical journalism that serves the public.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Opinions do not solve problems. Facts and balance help people figure out the issues of the world, and then people can act on fixing problems. </span></span></span>Colorblind Philosopherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16794943533414996995noreply@blogger.com